1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fitting, in particular for a vehicle seat, which comprises a first fitting part, a second fitting part that is rotatable around a rotary axis relative to the first fitting part, and a safety bolt that is movably guided in a radial sliding direction on the first fitting part for the purpose of establishing an interlock with the second fitting part.
2. Description of the Background Art
A fitting of this type is used, in particular, for the positionable adjustment of a vehicle seat back relative to a lower seat part. For this purpose, the safety bolt is first moved, for example by an actuating lever, from its locked position, in which the two fitting parts are locked together. The fitting parts are then rotated toward each other, in particular by adjusting the inclination of the connected seat back, until a desired target position is reached, and the actuating lever is released. As a result of a mechanical pretension relative to the locked position, the safety bolt subsequently returns to its starting position, so that the two fitting parts are now locked together in the target position. The seat back inclination is then adjusted, and the back is locked relative to the lower seat part.
A fitting of the type mentioned above is known, for example, from DE 10 2004 035 599 B3. The safety bolt in this document is movably guided on the first fitting part in the radial direction and has a plurality of locking teeth on its outer radial end, which engage with corresponding teeth of the second fitting part for the purpose of establishing an interlock. Fittings of this type are further described in DE 44 41 459 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,216 B2. Different drive concepts for operating the safety bolt are disclosed in the cited documents.
To actuate the safety bolt between a locked position and a released position, in which the two fitting parts may move freely relative to each other, a drive element is known, for example from DE 44 41 159 A1, which includes an actuating cam and a retracting pawl. The actuating cam is supported radially against an end of the bolt and drives the safety bolt radially to the outside and into its locked position. The retracting pawl engages with a corresponding recess in the safety bolt and retracts the safety bolt from its locked position radially inward into its released position. By alternately actuating the drive element in opposite directions of rotation, the safety bolt may be moved back and forth between its locked and released positions.
A drive element for driving the safety bolt is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,216 B2, in which a separate driving cam drives a sliding element at right angles to the direction of safety bolt adjustment. The sliding element has a retracting pawl as well as stop ramps, a lateral driving motion causing the stop ramps to interact with the retracting pawl and thereby move the safety bolt back and forth.
According to DE 10 2004 035 599 B3, a separate eccentric disk and a separate link disk are provided to actuate the safety bolt. The eccentric disk drives the safety bolt radially to the outside and into its locked position. The link disk interacts with a trunnion of the safety bolt and drags the safety bolt back from its locked position radially inward into its released position.
A fitting is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,414 B2, in which a rotatably mounted safety bolt is switched between a locked position and a released position by a rotatable actuating cam. For this purpose, the actuating cam has corresponding support surfaces running in the circumferential direction. A middle support surface, viewed in the radial direction, acts to lift the safety bolt from its locked position to its released position.
A fitting is further known from DE 10 2006 009 976 A1, in which a link disk is proposed for actuating the safety bolt, the link disk interacting with an actuating cam to retract the safety bolt from its locked position radially to the inside and into its released position.
Different approaches for preventing over-rotation of the fitting in both directions are known from the prior art. In particular, it is necessary to implement a stop in such a way that the introduction of forces in the closing direction of actuation does not cause the fitting to over-rotate and thus possibly to be irreversibly damaged. A problem of this type occurs, for example, when unintentionally stepping on the fitting actuating lever, which is usually oriented horizontally, while loading a roof-mounted luggage rack.